This section is intended to introduce the reader to various aspects of art, which may be related to various aspects of the present invention that are described and/or claimed below. This discussion is believed to be helpful in providing the reader with background information to facilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the present invention. Accordingly, it should be understood that these statements are to be read in this light, and not as admissions of prior art.
A user may initiate a web transaction with a web application by sending information to the web application via a browser or the like. A web transaction is everything that happens from when the web application receives the request until it returns a response to the user. The web application may access data resources or otherwise obtain information from a variety of sources in response to a user request.
Web applications are increasingly complex programs that, in some cases, process enormous amounts of information for hundreds or even thousands of users at a time. Error handling is an important aspect of making a user's transaction as trouble free as possible. Additionally, correct design of error handling aspects of a web application may minimize duplication of efforts by designers of web application.
Without correct error handling, web applications may be required to employ a different “action forward” for every type of exception. An “action forward” is a destination to which a controller servlet may be directed in response to a request. Such a system may easily become unmanageable based on the number of potential errors that may occur in web application processing. The use of a different “action forward” for each type of exception generated by a web application may greatly complicate the design of web applications.